Christmas at the Shelter

(Santa visits the kids at Samaritan House)

(Pastor Dan Heskett of Northridge Lutheran Church delivers gifts from their Giving Tree)

(Rob Quist entertains the crowd at the fundraiser luncheon)

This is a very heartwarming time at Samaritan House. Several people, businesses and churches have given presents for our shelter guests. Everyone here will be getting presents directly because of the generosity of the community. Many of the children were not expecting much of a Christmas this year, much less a real Santa. When a child sees the words "From Santa" on a gift, it seems to give them hope.
Likewise for Samaritan House itself this is a very heartwarming time of year. Charitable donations are how Samaritan House is able to operate the homeless shelter throughout the year. Most of those charitable donations arrive in the last few weeks of the year. To make donating even more accessible we also offer online giving.

Samaritan House would like to express our heartfelt gratitude and deep appreciation for your continued support of the people that mean so much to us.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

Montana Homeless Person's Memorial Day is December 21st. This also happens to be the first day of winter - the longest night of the year. There will be a memorial service at noon in Helena Women's Park. Sherri Downing from the Montana Coalition for the Homeless has collected the names of Montana's friends and neighbors who have died this year while homeless. Last year, there were 28 names. The event lasts about an hour and is held outside so people can understand what some of our neighbors are trying to survive. It has been a quick start to the winter season this year. In fact, the Daily InterLake reported last week that precipitation for the year is 19.96 inches, 3.71 inches ahead of the long term average and 6.76 inches ahead of last year. I verified myself with the National Weather Service that this year has averaged 2.3 degrees colder than normal. Samaritan House staff have added beds wherever possible resulting in greater numbers of people served than we could have imagined for this year.

We are coming in to the holidays in need of your help. Charitable donations are down while demand for services are at an all-time high.

In your holiday giving would you please consider Samaritan House. Thank you.